Strength-regulator for tank-drawn machine window-glass.



0. C. NATAHS. STRENGTH REGULATOR FOR TANK DRAWN' MACHINE wmnow GLASS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB 28, I917.

Patented Jan, 1, 1915i INVENTOR UNITED snares PATENT orrron.

OCTAVE G. NATALIS, 0F GHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

STRENGTH-REGULATOR FOR TANK-DRAWN MACHINE WINDOW-GLASS.

Application filed February 28, 1917. Serial No. 151,474.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OCTAVE C. NATALIs, residing at Charleston, in thecounty of Kanawha and State of West Virginia, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Strength-Regulators for Tank- Drawn MachineWindow-Glass, of which the following is a specification.

In the art of manufacturing window glass, one of the methods employed isto draw the glass from the tank in the form of a cylinder which isafterward slit and flattened into sheets. In drawing glass cylinders,the temperature of the drawn part is subjected to variation, due to theair currents, and to the heat from the cooling chamber which. is locatedprincipally on one side of the work. This causes the glass to becomethinner in some places than in others and consequently weakens thestructure at the different places. It is therefore one of the objects ofmy invention to provide a means for overcoming'this objectionablefeature by making it possible to apply either a cooling blast or aheating blast to the glass as 'it is drawn from the tank, provisionbeing made whereby the tem-' perature of the blast may be varied atdifferent places or zones throughout the annulus of the cylinderaccording to the particular condition existing at the time at thatplace, to thereby produce a product of uniform thickness and strength.Provision is further made whereby not only the adjustment may beindividuall efiected to regulate the proportionate efi ect of the blastat the different places, but theentire series of parts may be regulatedin unison, if desired.

Morespecifically, my invention provides a ring-pipe which encircles thedrawn glass cylinder at a place close to the tank and is divided into aseries of sections or pockets having ports directed toward the cylinder,each pocket being supplied with air or as from a tank by an individualduct in which a control valve is located. The several valves havegear-connected stemwheels whereby they may all be turned in unison by amaster gear wheel to open or close all valves together. The severalvalves also have individual provisions whereby anyone or more of themmay be separately adjusted to regulate the flow of fluid passing throughthe particular duct or ducts to the particular section or sections ofthe ring-pipe, without disturbing the adjustment of the remainder.

Specification of Letters Patent.

these valves are Patented Jan.1,1918.

More specifically, the invention includes those novel details ofconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will befirst fully described, then be pointed out specifically in the appendedclaims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1is a top plan view illustrating the invention in use;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section showing one method of constructingthe ring-pipe and connecting the ducts to the same.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the valves showing the meansemployed for individual and collective adjustment.

Fig. 4 is a detail section on the line 4: 4: of Fig. 3.

In the drawing, in which like letters and numerals of reference indicatelike parts in all of the figures, 8 represents ducts which supply air-orgas from the tank 18 to the separate compartments 13 of the ring-pipe13,

suitable shutofi or control valves 19 being employed in each duct andfor convenience to the tank.

The ring-pipe 13 is composed of sections which are coupled together asat 15, end to end, by plugs which are threaded or welded, or otherwiserigidly secured to the pipe ends and serve as cutoffs or dams in thering-pipe to divide the ring-pipe into a series of.

chambers or sections 13 14 designates unions which connect the ring-pipesections with the respective ducts, the connection between the ducts andthe ring-pipe being. made in any desired manner. 1

preferably located adjacent The ring-pipe 13 is rovided with smalperforations or ports 16 on the side adjacent to the cylinder 17 that isbeing drawn.

The construction of the valves 19, per se, may be of any approved type,but the stems 2020 are provided with feather grooves 21 in the directionof their length to receive the feather or lug 23 of the respective gearwheel 22 by which the valve stem is turned to open or close the valve19. The gear wheel 22 is held in a definite normal plane against thewasher 24 and jam nut 25 by a spring 29 interposed between the wheel 21and the gland cap 30 of the valve so that all of the wheels 22 undernormal condition are held in the same plane and the several valves areso located with relation to adjacent valves that the gear wheels 22 ofall valves mesh in train (see Fig. l) 26 is a master gear which mesheswith the adjacent valve gear and may be provided with any means by whichit can turned to operate the gear wheel train as, for instance, thecrank 27.

In practice, the ring 13 is preferably located closely to the tank fromwhich the cylinder is drawnand when the tank 1 tilled with. compressedair it serves the purpose of supplying a cooling blast to the cylinder17 to effect a cooling action on the drawn glass. It is found, inpractice, that the temperature of the glass is not uniform throughoutthe annulus of the cylinder and hence it is necessary to reguthe blastto different degrees of action diderent places. The operator can accciplish this act by depressing the gear wheel 22 or" the particularcontrol valve and opening or closing that valve manually,

= while the gear wheel is depressed until the proper blast action isobtained for the particular place; after which the valve gear that hasbeen depressed is permitted to come back into place and remesh with theadjacent valve gears.

After the individual valves have been set to deliver the proper blast tothe particular points desired the intensity of the blast, as

system or a whole, can be increased or diminished uniformly by turningthe master gear 2G and operating all valves simultaneously. It should beunderstood that alternate valves are rights and lefts so that when themaster gear 26 is turned in one direction all valves will be opened andwhen it is turned in the opposite direction the valves w ll be closed.

will be seen that by the use of my invention a very effective,inexpensive and readily controlled mechanism is provided for thepurposes and the convenient valve control arrangement enables quickadjustments be made to meet conditions as they arise and having once setthe valves to enable a l -:oper distribution of air to the blast, so ngas the'conditions of temperature at the aachine remain the same, all ofthe valves an be opened or closed together for increasng or diminishingthe blast in the same pro- "tion at all places. "nstead of using air fora cooling blast the 18 may be employed to contain gas which can be inited at the aperture 16 and used as a heating blast, in which event, ofres, the opposite action takes place on iwn glass cylinder and it iskept at o -n mated temperature rather than o -t understood that changesin the details construction and arrangement of parts may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appendedclaims, and from the foregoing description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, it is thought the complete construction, operationand advantages of my invention will be readily understood by thoseskilled in the art.

What I claim is 1. In an apparatus of the class described, a cylinderencircling tubular body having separate pockets that are provided withdischarge ports directed toward the cylinder, a tank, a set of ductsconnecting the respective pockets with the tank, individually operatablecontrol valves for each pocket duct, and a common operating mechanismfor simultaneously opening or closing said valves.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, acylinder encircling tubularbody having separate pockets that are provided with discharge portsdirected toward the cylinder, a tank, as'et of ducts connecting therespective pockets with the tank, individually operatable control valvesfor each pocket duct, each valve having a stem, means cooperative withall of the stems for simultaneously turning the same to open or closethe valves as a set.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a cylinder encircling tubularbody having separate pockets that are provided with discharge portsdirected toward the cylinder, a tank, a set of ducts connecting therespective pockets with the tank, individually operatable control valvesfor each pocket duct, each valve having a stem, means cooperative withall of the stems for simultaneously turning the same to open or closethe valves as a set, each valve having provision for individualadjustment independently of the others.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a cylinder encircling tubularbody having separate pockets that are provided with discharge portsdirected toward the cylinder, a tank, a set of ducts connecting therespective pockets with the tank, individual control valves for eachpocket duct, each valve having a stem, a gear Wheel on each stemslidably keyed to the respective stem, means for holding the said gearwheels in mesh, and means for simultaneously turning said valve stemgear wheels.

5. In an apparatus of th class described, a cylinder encircling tubularbody having separate pockets that are provided with discharge portsdirected toward the cylinder, a tank, a 'set of ducts connecting therespective pockets with. the tank, individual control valves for eachpocket duct, each valve having a stem, a gear wheel on each stemslidably keyed to the respective stem, means for holding the said gearwheels in mesh whereby all of said valves may be operated together.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a cylinder encircling tubularbody having separate pockets that are provided with discharge portsdirected toward the cylinder, a tank, a set of ducts connecting therespective pockets with the tank, individual control valves for eachpocket duct, each valve having a stem, a gear wheel on each stem andslidably keyed to the respective stem, a spring on each stem for holdingthe respective gear Wheels in the same place and in a meshing trainwhereby all of the valves may be turned in unison. 4

7, In an apparatus of the class described, a cylinder encircling bodyhaving separate pockets that are provided with discharge ports directedtoward "the cylinder, a tank a set of ducts connecting the respectivepockets With the tank, individual control valves for each pocket duct,each valvehav ing a stem, a gear wheel on each stem slidably keyed tothe respective stem, a spring on each stem for holding the respectivegear wheels in the same plane and it; a meshing train, and a master gearmeshing With one of said gear Wheels for turning the entire gear train.

OCTAVE C ATALIS.

